Freight container

ABSTRACT

A freight container has doors at one end of different widths but the same height. The larger door has a lock by which that door can be opened through one lock operation. The smaller door has no external lock but is locked internally.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to a freight container. Such containersare conventionally of generally cuboidal shape and have standardexternal dimensions so that they can fit in standard spaces on road,rail or sea transport vessels.

[0002] Such freight containers are delivered full of goods to therecipient of those goods. In a number of situations, those goods are notall unloaded at once, and the container remains on site and is used as atemporary static storage location.

[0003] Some such containers are refrigerated and contain goods whichhave to be held below a certain temperature. In this case, the containeritself includes a refrigeration plant which will require connection toan external power supply.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] According to the present invention, there is provided arectangular freight container having length width and height dimensionsof a standard size, and two doors at one end, the doors being of thesame height but with different width dimensions and extending to thefloor of the container.

[0005] Making the doors of different sizes means that one door can belarge enough to allow access into the container with trolleys orvehicles larger than would be possible with a single door.

[0006] The larger door preferably has a lock which can be unlocked byoperating a single lock handle. This makes it easy for the door to beopened and closed which is a particular requirement where a container isbeing used as a temporary storage facility from which goods will beunloaded from time to time and where the access door has to berepeatedly opened and closed. This is especially the case withrefrigerated containers which may be used for example by supermarkets tohold stock until it is needed to replenish store shelves.

[0007] In a suitable embodiment, the lock can be a vertical locking barmounted for rotation about its own axis adjacent the opening edge of thedoor, with keepers at the top and bottom of the door frame to receivelocking tongues on the bar, and a lock handle between the ends of thebar which can be turned to rotate the bar to free the tongues from thekeepers.

[0008] Preferably the smaller door has locks which can only be operatedfrom inside the container. The smaller door will generally only need tobe opened when all the contents of the container are being loaded orunloaded at once, and can be left closed and locked when the larger dooris opened and close for routine visits to and from the container. Thelocks a for the smaller door can be shoot bolts at the top and bottomcorners of the inside face of the door.

[0009] The larger door preferably has an internal door releasemechanism, so that if the door is shut with somebody inside thecontainer, they will be able to open the door to release themselves. Theinternal door release mechanism can act from inside the container on anexternal door release mechanism which will normally be the same lockmechanism which opens the door from outside.

[0010] A security bar can be locked between the two doors to preventoperation of the single lock handle. There is a requirement for a securelock (and a customs seal) to be available to prevent unauthorisedtampering with the container contents. The security bar can be lockedacross the single lock handle, so that the lock handle cannot beoperated until the security bar is removed.

[0011] When the container is used for storage purposes, and the maindoor has to be regularly opened and closed, it is important that thedoor fits properly into its frame, especially where the container is arefrigerated container. To ensure that the frame is not distorted if thecontainer is resting on uneven ground, the door frame is preferablyreinforce to prevent any skewing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The invention will now be further described, by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0013]FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a freight container inaccordance with the prior art;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a rear view of a freight container in accordance withthe invention;

[0015]FIG. 3 is a section through the container of FIG. 2 on the linesA-A;

[0016]FIG. 4 is a view, on a larger scale, of part of the section fromFIG. 3, showing a door open;

[0017]FIG. 5 is a detail of the door locking mechanism, shown insection;

[0018]FIG. 6 shows another view of another part of the lockingmechanism; and

[0019]FIG. 7 shows a detail of the door seals,

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020]FIG. 1 shows a conventional storage container 10 which, as isknown, has standard rectangular dimensions, closed sides 16, a closedroof 14 and a floor, and two ends. At one end there are two doors 18,20. The doors are hinged to the container frame at 22 and each door hastwo locking bolts 24 which can be released using operating bars 26 toallow the doors to be opened and closed.

[0021]FIG. 2 shows a corresponding view of one end of a container inaccordance with the invention. This container has a primary door 124 anda secondary door 125 of smaller dimensions. Both doors have hinges 122by which they are hinged to a frame 101. The secondary door 125 isclosed by internal shoot bolts 128 which are operated from inside thecontainer, such that when both doors are closed there is no accessiblemechanism for opening the secondary door 125.

[0022] The primary door 124 has a single latch mechanism at 130. Thislatch mechanism operates a vertical bar 132. The ends of the bar areheld in keepers 134 on the frame 101 when the door is closed andlatched. When the latch 130 is released (by operating a handle 142), thebar 132 can be rotated about its own axis to release its end portionsfrom the keepers 134, so that the door can be opened.

[0023] This latch mechanism may require a key to unlock it before thehandle can be moved. A keyhole 162 can be seen in FIG. 6. The latch canhowever be closed without being locked, so that access by authorisedpersonnel is not inhibited. It may also be possible to apply a separatepadlock to the latch mechanism.

[0024]FIG. 3, which is a section on the lines A-A from FIG. 2 also showsflexible seals 136 between the outer edges of the doors 124, 125 and theframe 110, and further seals 138 where the doors 124, 125 meet oneanother. It can also be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4 that the latch 130 has apart which extends through the thickness of the door to an unlatchingmember 140 on the inside surface of the primary door 124. This mechanismis shown in more detail in FIG. 5, where the main door handle accessiblefrom outside the container is shown at 142, shielded within a housing144.

[0025] The internal release knob 140 is mounted at the top of a stem 146which projects through a recess in the door and has an opposite endwhich abuts against the main door unlatching handle 142. The shaft 146projects through a saucer recess 148 on the inside of the door, and whenthe knob 140 is pushed fully home to the floor of the recess 148, thepressure of the stem acting on the handle 142 will rotate the handle farenough to release the upper and lower ends of the bar 132 from theirkeepers 134, so that the door can be opened from inside.

[0026]FIG. 5 shows a security bar 150 which is hinged to the primarydoor 124 at 152, extends across the housing 144, and is then retained ina socket 154 on the secondary door 125. A padlock and/or customs sealcan be applied to the socket 154 to prevent the security bar 150 frombeing removed. Whilst in place, the security bar 150 prevents the maindoor handle 142 from being moved to an unlocking position.

[0027] The primary door 124 also has a keeper 156 (see FIG. 2) intowhich the security bar 150 can be located once it is safe for thecontainer door to be held closed just by the lock 130.

[0028]FIG. 7 shows a detail of the way in which the doors seal againstone another. At the outer edges of the doors, extrusions 168 a and 168 bare mounted, and the extrusion 168 b on the primary door carries anouter gasket 166 made of EPDM. The form of the extrusions 168 are suchthat the edge of the primary door 124 is staggered relative to thesecondary door 125 which allows the primary door to be easily opened andclosed. Secondary lip seals 164 a and 164 b are mounted in identicalextrusions 170 a and 170 b on the container interior side of the seal166.

[0029] The use of a single latch 130 makes it much easier for theprimary door 124 to be opened and closed than is the case with aconventional container door locking arrangement. This allows thecontainer to be used at its destination as a storage location, wherepersonnel need and can obtain frequent access to the contents of thecontainer. The door can easily be opened and closed without complicationand without requiring undue strength. To ensure that the door can alwaysbe opened, and to ensure that the seals 136, 138 make effective sealingcontact between the door and the frame, the frame is reinforced comparedto standard freight containers. Additional strengthening will be builtin on all four sides of the frame, so that the frame resists skewingwhich might otherwise arise should the container be set down on unevenground, and which might hamper opening and closing of the doors.

[0030] Furthermore, because the primary door 124 is wide, trolleys orbarrows can be brought into the container to unload its contents.

[0031] The invention is especially useful on refrigerated containers,where it is important to ensure that the door is not left open.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rectangular freight container having lengthwidth and height dimensions of a standard size, and two doors at oneend, the doors being of the same height but with different widthdimensions and extending to the floor of the container.
 2. A containeras claimed in claim 1, wherein the larger door has a lock which can beunlocked by operating a single lock handle.
 3. A container as claimed inclaim 2, wherein the lock comprises a vertical locking bar mounted forrotation about its own axis adjacent the opening edge of the door,keepers at the top and bottom of the door frame to receive lockingtongues on the bar, and a lock handle between the ends of the bar whichcan be turned to rotate the bar to free the tongues from the keepers. 4.A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the smaller door has lockswhich can only be operated from inside the container.
 5. A container asclaimed in claim 4, wherein the locks for the smaller door are shootbolts at the top and bottom corners of the inside face of the door.
 6. Acontainer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the larger door has an internaldoor release mechanism.
 7. A container as claimed in claim 6, whereinthe internal door release mechanism acts from inside the container on anexternal door release mechanism.
 8. A container as claimed in claim 2,wherein a security bar can be locked between the two doors to preventoperation of the single lock handle.
 9. A container as claimed in claim8, wherein a customs seal can be applied to the security bar.
 10. Acontainer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the end face of the containerhas a door frame which is reinforced to prevent skewing of the frame ifit is resting on uneven ground.
 11. A container as claimed in claim 1,which is a refrigerated container.
 12. A container as claimed in claim1, wherein the doors extend the full height of the container so thatwhen both doors are opened, that end of the container is unobstructed toallow loading of the container.